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I would call the Indian buyer value-sensitive rather than price sensitive.
Please brief us about the activities of CADEM Technologies and how does it help manufacturing industries in improving efficiency and enhancing productivity?
We specialize in developing software products for improving the productivity of metal working industries. We have two classes of products. One is conversational CAD/CAM software for CNC machining centers and turning centers. The other is the SHOPtrack MES or Manufacturing Execution System, which monitors machine production and productivity.
Our CAM software allows CNC programming to be done much more efficiently than manual programming. It helps the programmer in these major areas - eliminates tedious and error-prone math calculations, selects optimal cutting parameters automatically, calculates the cycle time and generates process documentation automatically, and automates tool path generation.
The SHOPtrack MES system monitors CNC machines electronically and provides the latest production and productivity information (OEE and related parameters) as reports. It makes the data available at the computers of decision makers, or on mobile phones as text messages. In effect, it links the top floor to the shop floor.
Kindly elaborate on "Cut intelligently, make money" which is the USP of your company.
Manufacturing is growing rapidly and competition is heating. To meet this challenge of growth, just adding machines is not enough. On one side we are talking about humongous growth in manufacturing sector, but on the other hand profit margins are steadily decreasing. There is a constant pressure to push up profitability.
Just buying an expensive CNC machine does NOT automatically guarantee high productivity. You must cut metal intelligently to remain profitable. Our products help in doing this by reducing waste of machine time, human time, raw material and consumables.
Should manufacturers continue to be wary of new IT systems – especially small and mid-sized manufacturing businesses?
For the past couple of decades IT has been used extensively in functions like sales, inventory, purchase, accounts and payrolls. Decision makers have access to accurate and current data on any of these areas. Unfortunately, IT stops at the door to the shop floor. The shop floor is the heart and the prime mover of a manufacturing company. Money is made here. However, machines on the shop floor are isolated islands of cost with no information on how much they have produced, what they are doing at a particular instant or how much money is being lost due to machine downtime, rejections and other losses. This situation exists in SMEs as well as large manufacturing organizations.
A lot of decision making is involved in keeping productivity high, and this requires accurate and current data on the production status. Solving problems in real-time requires real-time data. Manufacturing industries will be forced to use far more IT directly on shop floors than is being used now.
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Please brief us about your latest product line up for the manufacturing industry? To which industry verticals do you cater to and who are your clientele?
We cater to a real large spectrum of CNC users worldwide. You can find Cadem’s products in small one-man job shops in the dusty lanes of Faridabad as well as in large corporates like Tata, Wipro, Benda Amtek, Tyco, Xomox and Maruti. Globally, you can see Cadem CAD/CAM in places like Volkswagen’s plant in South Africa, in defence aerospace contractor Smiths Aerospace in Dayton, USA, and in Thai-Suzuki’s motorcycle plant near Bangkok.
Our products are installed in about 10000 CNC shops around the world. We sell through a network of resellers worldwide and have quite a few localized language versions. Most CNC machine builders in India like Ace Designers, LMW, HMT and cutting tool companies like Seco Tools and Kennametal use or recommend our products.
Indian companies are very price sensitive, so how do you deal with these issues providing the best quality solutions at the same time?
Users are fast becoming aware of how software can help them unearth spare capacity on their machines, which is currently hidden under tons of downtime. The situation a decade ago was however different. CNC users used to laugh at us when we said they would get 3 floppies for Rs. 1.5 lakhs. Most of the manufacturing shops did not even have a PC in their plants. Things are changing now, people have realized that software is a commodity for which you need to pay a price.
In fact we think that Indian metal cutting companies are far more forward-looking and ready to invest in technology products than their counterparts in Europe and USA. Leaving the large companies aside, the metal cutting industry here is predominantly run by first or second generation entrepreneurs who are technology-savvy and ready to invest in software, when compared to doubting Thomases elsewhere.
I would call the Indian buyer value-sensitive rather than price sensitive. This is proven by the fact that our CAD/CAM software is priced 30 % higher than that of foreign competitors, but we still outsell our competitors. Increasingly, we find that Indian companies are ready to take quick purchase decisions if they see value in the product.
Do you have any solutions/offerings specific to SMEs?
All our products are used in SMEs as well as large industries. Our products are modular, and the buyer selects the modules to suit to his requirements. He can also scale up the product by adding modules as his company and requirements grow.
Every day we see some new enhancements in the technology, so how do you ensure the software is updated whenever a new upgradation is available? In short, does your software have upward and downward compatibility?
Upgrading is a continuous process for us, and whenever there is an enhancement our users have the option of upgrading to the newer version. We always ensure that a new version offers compatibility with data from the older version.
What are the innovations / new technologies that we can see in the near future?
Product enhancement is a never ending process. All our present and future products are driven by advances in machine tools, cutting tool technology, communications and manufacturing systems. We straddle across these multiple technologies to build our products. Our CAD/CAM systems will evolve in the area of newer machining operations, and greater automation in tool and cutting parameter selection. SHOPtrack will have more powerful tracking hardware, improved reports, and interface to the rest of the IT systems in the company.
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